"Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism and formality," Rubio said in a cable sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad Tuesday. In it, he said the 2023 shift to the sans serif Calibri font emerged from misguided diversity, equity and inclusion policies pursued by his predecessor, Antony Blinken. Rubio ordered an immediate return to Times New Roman, which had been among the standard fonts mandated by previous administrations."
"Since taking over the State Department in January, Rubio has systematically dismantled DEI programs in line with President Donald Trump's broader instructions to all federal agencies. The Trump administration says the goal is to return to purely merit-based standards. Rubio has abolished offices and initiatives that had been created to promote and foster diversity and inclusion, including in Washington and at overseas embassies and consulates, and also ended foreign assistance funding for DEI projects abroad."
""The switch was promised to mitigate accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities," the cable said, asserting that it did not achieve that goal and had cost the department $145,000 but did not offer any evidence. "Although switching to Calibri was not among the department's most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of DEI it was nonetheless cosmetic," according to Rubio's cable obtained by The Associated Press and first reported by The New York Times."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered diplomatic correspondence to stop using Calibri and return to Times New Roman effective Wednesday. He stated that typography shapes perceptions of cohesion, professionalism and formality and described the 2023 Calibri change as emerging from misguided diversity, equity and inclusion policies under Antony Blinken. He asserted the switch failed to improve accessibility, cost the department $145,000 and degraded correspondence. Since January, Rubio has dismantled DEI programs, abolished offices and initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion at home and abroad, and ended foreign assistance funding for DEI projects.
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